Sneaky Feelings
by Risu-chan14
Summary: Alice Longbottom wants to find the most suitable entertainment for the soon-to-be-married Lily Evans. Sirius Black, however, is not ready to cooperate. Slash RL/SB. Random Elvis Costello lyrics sneak their way in.
1. Wave A White Flag

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Elvis Costello, though I envy the glasses they wear.

A/N: I swear I'm still writing "Gardener of Godric's Hollow". I wrote chapter five over the summer, but I haven't quite finished tweaking it. However, you should all rejoice in the fact that this fic here is already completed!

**Title:** Sneaky Feelings

**Summary:** Alice Longbottom wants to find the most suitable entertainment for the soon-to-be-married Lily Evans. Sirius Black, however, is not ready to cooperate. Slash RL/SB. Random Elvis Costello lyrics make their way into things.

**Chapter One:** Wave A White Flag

"Oh Merlin, Lily I can't believe you're getting married in three days! Are you nervous?" Alice Longbottom asked, grasping Lily Evans' hands as she did so. Lily shook her head and looked pleasantly down at the sparkling engagement ring on her hand.

"I know, I know. It seems like just yesterday I was having a hissy fit every time that boy came near me." Alice chuckled and thought for a moment. She looked down at the gold band on her own finger, remembering the wedding she'd had only one month ago. It really seemed like the type of fun they'd had in their Hogwarts days was coming quickly to an end. No more midnight trips to Hogsmeade with the boys. No more drunken games of Truth or Dare in the Room of Requirement. No more steamy, wandlit romance novels hidden beneath the covers.

They were bound now. Not just by war, but by marriage. In a sense, at least for Alice, the two had come hand-in-hand. She could still remember Frank's words to her on the night he proposed. _"Alice, we can't wait any longer. Love is all we've got right now, and it's something the other side will never have."_ She sighed, just thinking about how passionate Frank had been that night. How could she possibly say no to an early marriage? She glanced back over at her friend, who was glowing as brightly as the ring James Potter had given her. Lily must have felt it too—the sudden urge to get married. Nobody really knew what this war was going to bring about…but at least this way they'd have no regrets about their relationships with Frank and James.

And yet…what if they ended up with other kinds of regrets. Like, not being able to live their lives to the fullest before the time ran out. Not getting to see, feel, and _be_ everything they deserved while they were still young. Why, they'd only been out of Hogwarts for what, six months? Suddenly, Alice's wedding ring felt a little bit tighter.

"Hey Lily?" she asked, twisting the ring a little.

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to do with all those romance novels of yours? Throw them away?"

"Oh heavens no! Those are my bibles! You know as well as I do that we couldn't have gotten through Hogwarts without them! Especially the male on male romances. You know, I still have never seen two men kissing? Remember back in sixth year…it was my life's goal to cheer on two boys as they fell victim to each other's passions—" she clutched her heart poetically and sighed.

Alice looked at her sadly as she interrupted the moment. "I threw all of my novels away because I was afraid Frank would find them."

Lily looked astounded. "Oh you shouldn't have done that! I'm going to keep mine because I _want_ James to find them. Might give him some inspiration, if you know what I mean," she said as she nudged Alice in the side. But Alice didn't grin.

"Are you sure we can still have fun like old times, even though we're married?"

Lily put her arm around Alice. "I don't know, aren't I supposed to find that out for myself tomorrow?" Alice's eyes widened. _The hen party! _(1) How could she have forgotten! And it had been up to her, as the maid of honor, to find the entertainment. Lily seemed to not have noticed how suddenly panic-stricken Alice had become, because she continued to smile as she excused herself to go fix dinner.

Alice put her head in her hands and groaned. Who on _Earth_ was she going to get to come to a hen party on such short notice? Of course, somebody sleazy could be a possibility in the blink of an eye…but for Lily, the entertainment really should be something a little more special. To Alice, this hen party was going to be more than just a milestone for Lily. As she was the last of their friends to be married, this hen party was going to be the last time for the girls to be girls. _"It was my life's goal to cheer on two boys as they fell victim to each other's passions…"_ Alice played that sentence over and over in her head as she sat on the tiny couch in James' apartment.

Without warning, the door to the apartment flung open, revealing a snow-covered and red-faced James Potter bundled up in what looked like eight layers of clothing. Startled, Alice slid off the couch and onto the carpet, causing James to laugh. "Wotcher, Alice!"

She quickly regained her composure and stood up to help James take off his snow-soaked garments. "Is it really that cold out?" she asked, noticing how frostbitten his face was.

"Cold enough to not notice how freezing Lily always keeps this apartment," he said, chuckling. He then took out his wand and began drying himself. "You staying for dinner tonight? It smells delicious, whatever it is."

Alice nodded. "I think it's some sort of chicken dish. Frank had to stay late at the Ministry, and Lily decided I needed some company. Plus, I er, needed to ask her for some ideas for her hen party," she said, grinning mischievously.

James cringed and waved his arms around. "I don't want to know. Please don't tell me, because I swear I don't want to know."

"Really? Because I _do_ want to know."

James gave her a funny look and sat down on the couch. "What? But I thought you were the one planning it. Lily said she wanted the entertainment to be a surprise."

Alice sighed. "Yeah, well…from the looks of it, it's going to be a surprise if something surprising actually happens."

"It's _that_ difficult to find something that Lily would like? I hope you're not looking for something sleazy and inappropriate are you?" he asked sternly.

"Of course I am! That's the point of a hen par—hey!"

"What!?" James was startled. Alice suddenly began looking at him very strangely.

"It was her life's goal to cheer on two boys as they fell victim to each other's passions…" she said in almost a whisper.

"E-excuse me?" James stood up and backed slowly away from the couch. "A-Alice?"

"Oh Potter, that's it! I'm sure you must have at least one gay friend! Wait…how about Sirius Black? _He_ can be the entertainment at Lily's party!"

"WHAT? How did you know he was gay?" he cried.

Alice grinned widely and giggled. "Well I wasn't completely sure until now." She clapped her hands, and James suddenly noticed a mischievous look in her eyes that made him wonder why she had never been part of the Marauders. "Okay here's the deal. I'll have all the guests agree to pitch in a few galleons. He can bring his boyfriend over to your apartment and you'll floo them to let them know the exact moment they should be pretending to shag. At that moment, I'll bring Lily and the girls up. We'll let Lily walk in first and startle them. They'll look our way for a second, and then go right back to having fun right on the very carpet you're standing on!"

James leapt from the rug as though he'd been standing on hot coals, and backed into the wall. _Oh no_. He thought. Nobody was supposed to know that Sirius liked men. Sirius had barely even known himself a few weeks ago…and now that Alice Longbottom knew…oh James had better go warn Sirius of this situation. Fast. Lily's chicken would have to wait.

Alice continued to monologue. "She can finally see two men shagging like she's always wanted to!" each of her words came out like a shriek, causing James' head to pound.

He continued to back away from her, making his way toward the fireplace. "Uh, Alice. Could you tell Lily that I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to pick something up at the Ministry." The woman, who James could have sworn looked slightly demonic, nodded and smiled. "Ministry of Magic, Auror's Office!" he called, tossing floo powder into the hearth. This was definitely one of those times that he was thankful for the special direct floo routes from his home to the Auror's Office. Generally he was supposed to use it only in case of emergency…and this certainly was an emergency.

He jumped out of the flames, brushing ashes onto the carpet as he tried to regain his composure. "SIRIUS!"

Both Sirius Black and Frank Longbottom jumped sky-high at James' intrusion, but Mad-Eye Moody just glared. James expected him to say something like, _"What are you doing here on your day off Potter? And you'd better have a damn good reason for using the emergency floo." _But instead, Mad-Eye smiled quite menacingly and said "Black, Longbottom. How could that possibly have surprised you? I though you were supposed to be practicing—"

"Yeah, yeah constant vigilance. I'm sorry to intrude, sir, but I need to speak with Sirius in private for a moment." James looked slightly tense, but Mad-Eye hardly looked worried. James was going to be married soon, so it really was no surprise for him to be acting a little strangely. Sirius, however, looked very worried as he noticed James' expression. He stood up from his desk and quietly followed James into the hallway.

There were only two departments at the Ministry of Magic who could be seen working late into the night: The Department of Mysteries, and the Auror Offices. So it came as no surprise that the hallway was completely empty and dimly lit. James let out a big sigh and looked straight into Sirius' bloodshot eyes. "What's up? Did something happen to someone? Is Lily okay? Remus?" Sirius' voice sounded a little hoarse as he spoke. He'd obviously been doing a great deal of paperwork before James' interruption.

James laughed in spite of himself. "No, no. Nothing like that!" Sirius immediately looked much calmer. The stress of the Auror training and the impending war had done quite a number on Sirius' suave and unruffled attitude, even in such a short a time as six months. The man had let his hair grow past his shoulders, and had to be reminded to shave…usually by Remus Lupin. But worst of all, the man had hardly smiled in weeks. "But Alice is over at my flat right now and—"

Sirius looked befuddled. "Umm, Prongs? Mate? Is your head okay?"

"What?"

"I'm _Sirius._ Her husband's the chubby guy in the green robes."

James made a face. "Look just shut it, okay? This concerns _you._" Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, but remained silent. "Blabbermouth Alice knows your secret."

Sirius continued to furrow his eyebrows. Clearly he had no idea what James was talking about. "She knows I can turn into a dog?"

James didn't laugh this time. "No, mate. She knows your _other_ secret. You know…the one that only you and I know…"

The befuddled look washed away from his face and was replaced with realization. "Shit!"

"Yeah, but apparently she's already figured it out before I accidentally confirmed it. Sorry, mate."

Sirius' head drooped. "What have you got to be sorry about? I mean, everyone's going to have to find out sooner or later. I was just kind of hoping to keep it quiet until I find a boyfriend."

The bespectacled man shook his head and threw his arm around Sirius' shoulders. "That's what I'm sorry about. The other bad news is that you're going to have to find a boyfriend by tomorrow night."

"…"

James waited for a response, but none came. He continued, "She wants you and your _boyfriend_ to be the entertainment at Lily's hen party. And apparently Lily's got some thing for gay blokes shagging. _Bloody hell_ I wish I hadn't just learned that about her."

"C-Couldn't you have told her I don't have a boyfriend? That I may _never_ have a relationship with a bloke?" Sirius' voice had never been lined with panic back in the Hogwarts days. Before speaking again, James turned away from his friend to think for a moment. Two weeks ago, on a night when Sirius had been sure Lily was not sleeping over at James' flat, Sirius had come rolling out of the fireplace while James had been enjoying a nice, quiet drink.

After an hour or so of awkward hesitation to mention the reason for his visit, James offered Sirius a drink. One shot of firewhiskey later, the man was ready to tell James that he preferred men. All throughout their Hogwarts years, three-quarters of the female population had thrown themselves at Sirius…only to find their hearts broken when he didn't want to pursue serious relationships with them. And of course a _serious relationship_ to Sirius Black meant longer than a one-night stand.

But on that bone-chillingly cold December night, with the howling wind and James Potter as his only witnesses, Sirius admitted to being attracted exclusively to men. And admitting something like that meant that if he were to ever commit to a serious relationship, it would be with a man. All James could really do that night was nod in understanding and offer his shoulder to lean on.

This war was causing everyone they knew to grow up entirely too quickly. The Marauders accepted that the days when they could fool around with whomever they wanted were long gone. Relationships now had to be committed. They had to be as close to true love as they could get. Relationships now had to be _forever_, because forever could mean sixty years, or forever could mean tomorrow. These had actually been Remus Lupin's words, not his. But then again, Remus had always been much less promiscuous in his love life than the rest of them.

Before leaving James' flat that night, Sirius had left him with one rather strange thought to contemplate. _"I know I fancy blokes because I think I've fallen in love with one," _was all he'd revealed on the matter. _Wow_, thought James. There was no way in hell Sirius was going to tell him who it was…so he didn't even bother asking.

The two hadn't actually spoken about Sirius' sexuality since that night. But now, Sirius had unfortunately come face-to-face with his dilemma. Finally, James spoke up, causing Sirius to lift his head. "You were going to have to tell him soon anyway, you know. Can't wait a thousand years," he said.

A few minutes passed in strained silence. When Sirius finally spoke, he voice was somehow much more hoarse than before. "There's no bloody way I'm confessing to him by tomorrow night. Tell Alice no. Tell her to find someone else to put on a show for Evans."

James frowned. "C'mon, mate! This isn't like you at all! Where's the fun-loving, insanity-pursuing Padfoot that I know and love! Take a little chance, why don't you? I did."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I asked Lily to marry me, didn't I? I asked her when we'd only been on speaking terms for a year, and she said yes! Incidentally, how long have you been in love with this bloke?"

"A long time."

"Ah, so you've just admitted that it's a schoolmate. And how long have you actually known him?"

Sirius picked at one of his fingernails. "Even longer."

"And what's stopping you from telling him tomorrow? Or even right now?"

"Romantic timing?" Sirius' eyes were grinning slightly, and James relaxed. Then, at that very moment, it hit him. If James didn't do something about Sirius' lovelorn melancholy soon, his best man was certainly not going to be the life of the party at the wedding…as everyone was probably expecting him to be. Once James was fully married, he'd have less and less time to spend with his old schoolmates. Sirius _needed_ a steady relationship right now. He needed someone to love, because Merlin knows Sirius has never focused his uncontrollable passion towards anything other than pulling pranks and turning into an Animagus. Love would be good for someone like Sirius. Love would probably get him to cut his hair, shave regularly, and bring some color back into those once mirthful cheeks.

"The girls are willing to pay you," he mentioned.

"With money?"

James couldn't keep a straight face. "Of course with money, you wanker! Unless you'd prefer to be paid in owl droppings."

Sirius grinning. "I'll think about it."

"I mention money, and suddenly he considers it," James said aloud to himself. Sirius immediately locked his arm around James' neck and rubbed his fist into the man's hair. Somewhere between Sirius barking with laughter for the first time in ages, and James' glasses falling off, a sort of unspoken agreement was made. Sirius was going to confess his love to someone, and everything was going to be just fine.

Once the laughing died down, Sirius said in a low voice, "I'm going to be scared shitless if I decide to see him tomorrow."

"Then see him tonight." James waggled his eyebrows, and Sirius laughed again, a little nervously this time. James headed straight back to his flat, dragging a reluctant Sirius along with him. Frank did not look all that happy to be left alone with Mad-Eye, but one nice thing about him was that he hardly complained.

* * *

(1) I'm insufferably American. The entire time I was originally planning this story, I called it a "bachelorette party." But having never been to one myself, I asked my best friend, Wikipedia about them…who was kind enough to inform me that residents of the UK call it a "hen party". So just to be on the safe side, for those of us who don't know much about the lingo of the UK…a hen party is the same thing as a bachelorette party.

PLEASE REVIEW!! I love people who review with all my heart. I know there's not much to this story yet, but there will be. Next chapter soon.


	2. Stranger In The House

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Elvis Costello, though I envy the glasses they wear.

**Title:** Sneaky Feelings

**Summary:** Alice Longbottom wants to find the most suitable entertainment for the soon-to-be-married Lily Evans. Sirius Black, however, is not ready to cooperate. Slash RL/SB. Random Elvis Costello lyrics make their way into things.

A/N: THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING, THOSE OF YOU WHO DID! I was having such a stressful week, so when I got reviews, they made me feel so happy.

**Chapter Two:** Stranger In The House

"Lily, what are you doing inviting so many people for dinner without asking me?" James argued, slightly annoyed.

"What? So I decided to invite one more person while you were out! It's not like there isn't room at the table! And you invited Sirius!" Lily retorted. James frowned.

"But it's _my_ flat!"

"But _I'm_ the one cooking dinner!"

"They act like they're already married," Sirius whispered to the new guest.

"I can't tell if he wants me here or not," said Remus, grinning sheepishly and throwing his arm around Sirius. He looked up at the taller man's face. "What? What's the matter?" Sirius had suddenly become rigid. "You need a shave. Shall I teach you the quick-shave spell Lily taught me? It's quiet useful for someone like me." Sirius remained silent, although his face had turned slightly pink. Remus looked at him like he was crazy. "You drunk?"

"Uh…" was the only thing Remus heard coming from the other man's mouth.

"Oookay then. Well it's good to see you, anyway. It's been a fortnight, hasn't it?" No answer.

"Food's ready!" Alice's voice rang out from the kitchen, putting Lily and James' argument to an end, and shaking Sirius out of his stupor. The five of them sat down at the surprisingly spacious table and tucked into Lily's roast chicken dinner.

Lily, who sat across from Sirius, looked up from her meal about 30 seconds into it and frowned. "What's wrong, sweetie?" asked James…but James was not the person she was frowning at.

"Sirius' face."

"I beg your pardon, Evans! What about it?" objected Sirius defensively, putting his hands on his cheeks.

"I can't eat my meal with some sort of homeless person sitting across from me."

"What?!" cried Sirius.

Remus laughed aloud. "Lily, why don't you show Sirius that lovely spell you taught me?"

"Right now?" asked Sirius, incredulously. "I'm eating dinner!"

Remus nodded and Lily grinned momentarily before grabbing a fistful of Sirius' beard and dragging him into the bathroom. Alice looked on incredulously while James began laughing heartily. "Is this _always _how things are in this apartment?"

"Only when James is stupid enough to invite _that_ guy," said Remus, staring at the door Sirius had just disappeared through.

"Oh! Speaking of Sirius!" Alice announced suddenly, turning her attention to James, who dropped his fork and paled considerably. "Did you get him to agree to have fun with his boyfriend in front of Lily tomorrow? I floo'd some of the girls while you were gone and they are just _dying_ to pay to see this!" James had been shaking his head as the words left Alice's mouth, but it was just like her to not think about what came out of it. Remus choked on a piece of chicken, and began gulping down his glass of wine. Alice shot James a confused look. "What? I assumed that's what you were doing. I-I mean…you floo'd him right after I asked you about it…"

"Sirius is GAY?" Remus exclaimed once he'd finished choking. "Oh my _GOD_!"

James looked like he was in incredible pain. "M-moony…you can't tell him that you know!"

Alice looked from the petrified James over to the astonished Remus and suddenly understood. "I just outed Sirius, didn't I?" At least she had the decency to look horrified with herself. James uttered an angry-sounding noise that sounded vaguely affirmative, while Remus leapt completely out if his seat.

"Prongs, I think we'd better have a talk!" The two of them sped out of the kitchen in the blink of an eye. Remus began immediately. "So he told someone like _Alice bloody Longbottom _before considering telling me?"

James grabbed Remus' shoulders. "No, mate, it's nothing like that! He only recently figured out that he fancies men! I'm the only one who's supposed to know. Alice just sort of…guessed. You know how she is," James said in a panicky voice. Remus continued to give him a stern look. "Please don't be angry with him, Moony," he added. "He _loathes_ it when you're cross with him, and Merlin forbid you make him more depressed than he already is!"

"Why should he be depressed when he's getting _paid_ to fool around with his boyfriend?" Remus looked livid.

James sighed. "He doesn't technically have a boyfriend yet…Alice just assumed that he did."

The expression on Remus' face switched from angry to concerned in half a second. "He doesn't technically have a boyfriend yet?" he repeated.

"That's what I said."

"But that means he needs one by tomorrow, right?"

"Looks like it, yeah…oh but he does have his eye on someone. He told me he was in _love_ with the bloke. He's gonna ask him out tonight if all goes well." James looked very reluctant as he told Remus this, because theoretically he wasn't supposed to be mentioning Sirius' love life to anyone.

"Then what's he doing here?" Remus asked exasperatedly, quickly glancing at his watch. "By the time dinner's finished, he's not going to have time to tell some guy he's in love with him!"

James shrugged his shoulders and looked over at the bathroom door. The walls in that room were pretty thin, so he could hear every curse and yelp that came from Sirius' mouth as Lily held him down and shaved him. Thank _Merlin_ that wasn't him in that bathroom with Lily. In these situations, she tended to treat James a lot more harshly than she treated his friends. "Sirius knows what he's doing. And now he's got the added bonus of not looking like a beggar when he asks the bloke out. It should be a piece of cake for someone like him."

Remus' jaw dropped and his eyes bulged, which James recognized as his famous 'you can't possibly be that stupid' face. "James, are you _daft?_"

"No, Moony. I consider myself to be a lot smarter than you give me credit for…"

"No, that's not the point!" Remus hollered. "How would _you_ feel if some guy told you how he felt about you from the bottom of his heart, laying bare his entire soul _just for you_…and then the next day he asks you to have sex with him in front of a group of squealing women!"

James' face turned a ghostly white. "W-well, if I fancied blokes, then yeah…I wouldn't mind having a good shag with someone I found attractive."

"You don't know anything about love, do you?" said Remus, shaking his head.

"I know more than you! I know enough to have finally settled down with Evans!"

"And why do you think that was, James? Is it because you told her you loved her and then immediately asked her to shag you to the moon and back?"

The other man looked appalled at Remus' words, and he took a few steps back. "NO! Lily and I are completely different!"

Remus rounded on James, forcing him to shrink into the corner of the sitting room. "No, you stupid prick, it's the same! It's bloody _exactly_ the same as what you feel for Lily! If Sirius really is in love, he can't be rushed into consummating his first real relationship in under twenty-four hours!" The werewolf's face was suddenly flushed with anger and his breathing had become erratic.

James stared at Remus for a moment as his brain tried to wrap around the other man's words. Then, something clicked in James' brain. Something that probably should have clicked a _long_ time ago. "Moony…I think you'd better tell Padfoot what you just told me."

Remus sighed. "Yeah, but I doubt he'll listen to me if he's already decided that performing in front of Lily is a good idea. He's a hell of a lot stupider than you are."

"Umm, thanks?" said James. He smiled at Remus and gave him a quick searching look in the eye. He hadn't seen Remus in quite a long time. He had his job at the Ministry and Remus had his life in Muggle London. James, Peter, and Sirius couldn't even use the full moon as an excuse to see their friend anymore, now that the new Wolfsbane Potion kept the werewolf from hurting himself and others. However, upon looking at Remus' face today…James could tell the absence of the Marauders was wearing down on the tawny-haired man in a way that the werewolf couldn't. Of course, James might not have noticed the deep sadness in Remus' eyes had it not been for Sirius.

During those late, lonely nightshifts when James would chatter on about his engagement to Lily…Sirius would remain uncharacteristically quiet. But one evening, James mentioned Remus in passing, and suddenly Sirius perked up. "I'll bet you anything Moony's going to love the wedding," Sirius had said, catching James completely off guard.

"Yeah, I suppose he would," James agreed. "And Pete too. Wormtail always has a lot of fun at parties. Do you think I should dare him to crawl under Petunia's dress during the ceremony?" he laughed, elbowing Sirius in the ribs.

But Sirius hadn't even been paying attention. "Moony's eyes look so sad as of late, you know? The haven't been sparkling as much as they used to."

That had pretty much been their entire conversation that night. James doubted Sirius' brain had even registered all the ideas James had come up with for pulling pranks at his own wedding. But now, looking into Remus' dull, brown eyes, James could understand where Sirius was coming from. They _needed_ to find some reasons to see their friend more often. After all, his eyes hadn't been brown at Hogwarts. They'd been as gold as the Gryffindor lion.

"What are y'wankers staring at each other for? Get over here and fight for my sexy chin!" James jumped and Remus yelped, before focusing attention on Sirius, whose newly shaven face looked remarkably handsome.

James put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I'll fight for your undying passion after dinner, mate. But first…I think Moony here has something he wants to talk to you about." James used his other hand to thump Remus on the back.

In a matter of seconds, both Sirius and Remus were sporting bright red faces. James hadn't the faintest idea why his friends were so embarrassed, but he decided to let it go and leave them alone. After all, if he was correct in his assumptions, Sirius most likely had something to talk to Remus about as well. James lips curls as he followed Lily into the kitchen.

Sirius watched James leave the room, desperate to look anywhere but at Remus. Unfortunately, he had to match his friends' glace once Remus began talking. "I do have something to tell you, Sirius…but it's probably not something you, er, want to hear."

"Yeah?" said Sirius nervously. "Well spit it out then."

Remus drew in a long breath. "You're making a big mistake, telling some bloke to shag you."

Sirius' face paled before turning bright red once again. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, but no words could describe how flustered he looked, let alone felt. "I…you know…pouf?"

Remus held up his hand to stop his friend from stumbling on more words. "Don't say 'pouf', Sirius. But yes, I know you're gay. And like I said before, don't you _dare_ ask that poor bloke to shag you in front of Lily. He isn't going to last more than a night if you do that."

The other man smiled awkwardly. "We…we uh, wouldn't want that. I…was thinking of asking him to James and Lily's wedding, so there's no way in hell I want to bollock something as important as that up."

Remus' eyes sparkled for a moment while his mouth formed a genuine smile, catching Sirius off guard. "That's so sweet, Pads. But I'm, er, surprised you reconsidered so quickly."

"Anything to make the bloke I love happy." Sirius winked.

Remus then looked at Sirius as though he were an adorable puppy. "If you're asking him to be your date to the wedding, you'd better hurry up and tell him your feelings."

Sirius looked a hell of a lot more confident now than he had about a minute ago, and the youth was slowly coming back into his eyes. "You think so?" he said, moving closer to Remus.

"Yeah, I think so." Remus grinned and punched Sirius playfully in the arm. Sirius smiled brightly to match Remus' expression, and gently took his friend's hand in his own. Remus cocked his head to one side, but decided not to comment. Sirius must need courage to get through this burning passion he had for this bloke. "I'll help you win him over, of course."

The other man's eyebrows rose in surprise and he quickly withdrew his hand. "What? But I thought…" he shook his head, mussing up his long, black hair. His face had turned an awkward shade of red once more. "How can you _possibly_ do that?" he asked in a sad voice.

"Well, that's assuming you tell me his name."

Sirius looked pained. "Moony, I…thought you already knew his name. That's why I said I'd do anything to make y—…_oh. Merlin._"

"No, I don't already know his name. I assume it isn't Merlin," he joked. "But I _do _know that you'd better rush your way through that dinner if you want to confess to him before midnight."

"Yeah," Sirius sighed, walking away from Remus and into the kitchen. The happiness that had brightened up his face moments ago was completely gone. "But tonight probably isn't good."

* * *

Please tell me what you think!


	3. I Wanna Be Loved

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Elvis Costello, though I envy the glasses they wear.

**Title:** Sneaky Feelings

**Summary:** Alice Longbottom wants to find the most suitable entertainment for the soon-to-be-married Lily Evans. Sirius Black, however, is not ready to cooperate. Slash RL/SB. Random Elvis Costello lyrics make their way into things.

A/N: I NEEEEEED SLEEP. Also- I love my reviewers. You make life good. I was so freaked out when was not sending me e-mail alerts, because I thought that nobody was reading my stories. Then, three days later, they all came at me at once. I guess is being glitchy.

**Chapter Three:** I Wanna Be Loved

Most of the following day dragged on painfully for Sirius, yet once it was almost over, he suddenly felt as if there hadn't been enough time at all. It wasn't that confessing to a bloke would be tremendously difficult for him to cope with emotionally…no, the problem was the way he _spoke_ when he tried to confess. Sirius had been _notorious_ at Hogwarts for declaring his love for people in the manner of a ridiculous prat.

He _wanted _someone to love…but he could never express it in the way others could. He couldn't tell them to their face that he loved them or that he found them attractive. Sirius Black's brain just could not comprehend romantic language. No, he had to be a stupid arse about it and use ambiguous phrases and cheesy pickup lines. It worked on most girls. _Most_ of them.

"_Oi, Alice! Y'wanna?" Sirius leapt onto the table where Alice's dinner plates had just vanished. Why was the Great Hall suddenly so quiet? Was it _that_ shocking to see Sirius Black asking someone—_

Sirius had woken up in the hospital wing with a black eye and several bruised ribs. It had been a mixture of both Alice and Frank attacking him at once; Alice with a stunning spell and Frank with the mighty force of his fist. Oh how those two had been perfect for each other. All Sirius had wanted was for someone to connect with _him_ in that way. Someone who'd punch another person in the face for him. Someone who he had _feelings_ for. Not just lust but actual romantic feelings. His insides tore up every time a couple from school got together, leaving him in the dust. James and Lily were going to be no exception.

And then, just like that, Sirius' wish had partially come true. He'd fallen quiet madly and painfully in love with a certain someone. Or rather, he'd realized how madly and painfully in love he'd always been with a certain someone. It didn't matter to Sirius that they were both blokes. There had been a couple of shirtlifters in Hogwarts, and Sirius admitted (to James) that he'd eyed them up a few times, especially during the years he was obsessed with glam.

Sirius had heard a song lyric years ago, buried somewhere in those old glam rock albums, that had stuck in his head more than the actual song ever could.

"_Momentary seizure of love."_

The instant Sirius heard that line for the first time, he'd thought to himself, _"Holy fuck! I want to know what that feels like!"_ A momentary seizure of love…it sounded so _erotic_, and yet so sweet—two things that hardly went together in his mind. And this new love he found had given him seizures all right. Not real ones, of course…but he sure felt like he had no control of his body each time that bloke got too close for comfort.

If Sirius couldn't use romantic speech before he'd fallen for the boy, there was **no way **he'd ever be able to confess to him now. Only half of his wish had come true—he'd found someone he had true feelings for. But he would never find the courage to _have_ that person…to be able to fully communicate these sneaky feelings of love that crept through his body whenever he thought about that one boy.

"Sirius, just out of curiosity, did James give you a spare key to this apartment?" Lily asked as she stumbled through the doorway with a bag of groceries in her arms. Sirius stood up dejectedly and helped her bring the groceries into the kitchen nook. "It's just that, you're always here when James isn't home. I know I made that joke about you being homeless yesterday…but you _do_ have your own flat, you know."

Sirius looked at her angrily, his face the color of her hair. "So I can't visit my best mate's flat every once in a while? We fucking don't have the same bloody hours at the Ministry!"

If Lily had been any other person, her voice would have sounded frightened and emotional when answering to a moody Sirius Black. But Lily knew Sirius, and she knew he was not someone to be frightened of. "Sirius, dear," she grasped his shoulder, "of course you're allowed to be here. It's just, well…James and I are going to be married this weekend. Don't you think it's time to start giving us a little privacy?"

This was apparently the wrong thing to say. Sirius threw his fist into the wall, shaking some of the pots and pans scattered on the counter. "I can't take this anymore! You lot are leaving me completely out of the picture! I'm going to die a sodding bachelor in some fucking cave while everyone else is falling in love under the stars and living happily ever after!"

Lily stared at him wide-eyed, not quite believing her ears. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"

"I mean that you're all committing yourself to one person for the rest of your lives, and I can't even _talk_!" Lily maneuvered Sirius into a chair and sat down beside him, holding his shoulder as he rested his face in his hands. Her heart thumped frantically in her chest. _This_ was the moment she'd been waiting for—Sirius Black in an emotionally vulnerable state, his heart laid bare. She absolutely detested the cocky bastard Sirius had personified at Hogwarts, so it had been sort of a fantasy of hers to see him like this. However, that didn't mean she had no desire to help him.

"You can talk, Sirius. You've always been _good_ at talking. There's no reason why a girl shouldn't love you if you tell her you want commitment. During these times especially. Actually…there are quite a few of my friends who'd be more than happy to hear you say you want to 'live happily ever after'. I could set you up with one of them when they come tonight."

When Sirius didn't say anything in response to this, Lily assumed he was either thinking it over or he'd suddenly stopped breathing. He finally looked up after a long pause, the anger completely lifted from his face, only to be replaced with a rather shocking new expression that Lily could not have expected. His eyes were glazed over and his lip was curled, along with a slight blush across his cheeks.

"If I tell him I want to live 'happily every after' with him, do you think he'd understand my feelings?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "_Him?_"

Sirius nodded, but didn't seem too embarrassed. "I honestly thought James had a big enough mouth to at least tell his girlfriend."

"That you're gay?"

"That I've got it bad for a bloke, yeah," he looked resigned. "I wanted to tell him how I felt before the wedding, but I can't seem to come out and say it. James is the only one I can confide in, so naturally I've been hanging around here a lot."

Lily smiled apologetically. "I understand. But don't you think you could talk to Remus about this sort of thing? He's more in tune with romance than you all give him credit for."

Sirius' face turned bright red. "Ah, no. That's not…a good idea. But er, um…can you answer my question?"

Lily was taken aback by Sirius' sudden inability to speak. "What question?"

"I…I'm having a hard time getting the bloke I like to understand that I…I'm attracted to him. I can't say it to his face, you know? How do I get him to, you know…understand?"

"I can't believe Sirius Black is asking me something like this. I just…can't believe it."

"Well, believe it, Evans. I'm as serious as my name."

Lily looked pensive for a moment. "Why don't you tell him through your actions? Like, why don't you capture him in a sweet, gentle kiss that will have him wondering just how he could have ignored you all these years…"

Sirius frowned. "All these years? How did you know it's been that long?"

She looked into his eyes and smiled. "I didn't know until just now."

He turned away from her penetrating stare. "I'm not going to push any physical attraction onto him. He's special, you know?"

"But you do want to shag him, right? Whether he's special or not, you've got _needs_." His head snapped back in her direction, his mouth gaping. Lily took Sirius' sudden silence to mean that he was going to accept her thoughts on the matter. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Lily carefully stood up and muttered something that sounded like a silencing charm on the kitchen door. Why would she do that?

"Listen," she said as she sat back down in the chair next to Sirius, who was now looking more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him. "The sooner you get over this little problem of yours...this 'I'm too afraid to tell a bloke I'm in love with him' thing, the happier you will be. You want my advice, Sirius? I say you get _physical_ right from the beginning. Let him know you're totally enamored with him." Lily's green eyes looked mysteriously fiery, and Sirius was suddenly feeling panic signals in the pit of his stomach.

"I…I don't think my feelings for him are _that_ strong! They're just…"

"They creep up on you, don't they?" she hissed back.

"What?" But Sirius knew that she was speaking the truth.

"They're _sneaky_!"

"No!"

"You think you are having a normal conversation with him, and then suddenly your entire body _sparks_ like you're in the middle of a bloody fireworks display." Lily tossed her hair back ferociously. "You're going to regret doing this the slow and painful way, with your little awkward conversations and your bashful stuttering. I mean you really, really will regret it."

Sirius looked into Lily's eyes again and saw something in them glint with mischief. Although Sirius felt quite intimidated by this look, he could tell that this was one of the little things she did that made James Potter love her. Masochistic bastard. Before Sirius could question Lily, her grin turned into a wicked smile.

"It's not just sweet feelings of love you have for him, is it Sirius? You look and sound a lot like me when I was finally ready for James to fuck me senseless."

"I-I resent that!" the raven-haired wizard stuttered. "He even told me he doesn't think it's a good idea to get physical right away! I _asked_ him!"

"Are you sure?" her smiled broadened as she stood up and took a step toward Sirius. "Are you absolutely positive that he doesn't want to feel your fingers entwined in his hair?" She took another step. Sirius stood up and moved towards the door, shaking his head. "And _you_ don't want his hands tugging at your collar?" Another step. Sirius moves backwards, temped to reach for his wand.

_No_, he thought. The great Sirius Black is not about to let a girl scare him into a corner. Especially not Lily Evans, who did the same to James on a daily basis. But the battle had already been lost. "You don't want to feel his tongue in your mouth as his other hand snakes up your back?" They both took another step towards the door. Sirius gulped. The door was closed and silenced, and nobody else was in the apartment. Only he could save himself. Unfortunately, thoughts of escape were being forcefully pushed to the back of his mind. "…_feel_ him lifting up your shirt as your hand moves down to touch his—"

Sirius moaned. He didn't mean to; he didn't _want_ to. This was a _horrible_ sign. He couldn't blame his arousal on Lily's actions, because he was clearly turned on by the mention of another man's, no _Remus'_ erection. Lily continued, smirking. "You want to be his lover, don't you? You want to carve his name into your dogtag as he carves his teeth marks into your neck." Sirius made a grab at the doorknob, only to realize that Lily had _not_ been whispering a silencing spell a few minutes ago.

"Alo…" he squeaked. Lily giggled.

"Wow," she said looking down. "That doesn't have _anything_ to do with a girl cornering you, does it?" He shook his head, embarrassed.

"Alohomora!" he hollered, seizing the doorknob to help it fling itself open. He leapt out the door and shot straight to the loo without even acknowledging James, who stood next to the door with a smirk curling up on his face.

"What was that all about?" asked James as Lily gave him a peck on the lips.

"That, my dear, was for charming my skirt to fall down in the Great Hall during our fourth year."

James shook his head. "I _told_ him you were going to get him back for that one day!" They both laughed. James then walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Oi, you'd better hurry up in there, you wanker!" he couldn't help sniggering as he spoke. "Lily's girlfriends are going to be here any minute to start up the hen party!"

"Fuck!" Sirius replied.

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Please review. I would like to know what people think of this story, because right now I'm not too sure about it.


	4. Mystery Dance

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Elvis Costello, though I envy the glasses they wear.

**Title:** Sneaky Feelings

**Summary:** Alice Longbottom wants to find the most suitable entertainment for the soon-to-be-married Lily Evans. Sirius Black, however, is not ready to cooperate. Slash RL/SB. Random Elvis Costello lyrics make their way into things.

A/N: Sorry this took a while. Midterms and all that nonsense. But FALL BREAK IS COMING AND FANFICTION WILL PREVAIL! Also—somewhere down the line, this became songficish (shut up, Microsoft Word. Songficish is _totally_ a word). I've never used the concept of sonfic before, so let me know if this works for you or not.

**Chapter Four:** Mystery Dance

James and Sirius stood awkwardly against the wall on the opposite end of the room, eying the group of giggling witches warily. It had been much more difficult than James had previously thought—watching his fiancé getting all dolled up for her hen party. Technically, he shouldn't have been in the flat at the same time as the party, because part of it involved hairspray and he had always been horribly sickened by the smell. But there had been no escape, really. They'd come only a few short minutes after he'd arrived home, and he'd been too busy laughing at Sirius to hightail it out of there.

"What to you think they'll do tonight?" James asked Sirius quietly. Lily's dress seems pretty low cut. Do you think they're going to a club?"

"I hate your girlfriend," Sirius replied.

"Merlin forbid something happens to my Lilyflower…should I follow them?"

"I hate your girlfriend."

James furrowed his eyebrows and glared as Alice grabbed Lily's hand and led the giggling group to the front door. One of the other girls glanced quickly back at James and Sirius and whispered something into Lily's ear. Lily threw her head back and laughed…which reminded James that the girls had drunk some Firewhiskey a few minutes earlier, and were probably at high risk for Splinching. "Okay, I'm definitely going. You with me, mate?"

"Hmmm…" considered Sirius. "I…hate your girlfriend."

"Oh come off it!" he punched his friend in the arm. "Now, come with me."

Sirius shook his head. "I hate your girlfriend!"

James took that to mean "I'm staying here", so he grabbed his winter coat and snuck out the front door, locking it as he left. Sirius sighed and maneuvered his way over to the jade green couch in the middle of the room. Just as he was making himself comfortable, he noticed the bottle of Firewhiskey sitting enticingly on the coffee table just within his reach. Just as he made to grab it, however, Sirius suddenly remembered how the bottle had touched the lips of half of those rather unattractive witches who had just been in the room.

Yes, this was going to be one of those nights when he was too lazy to summon a goblet.

What the bloody hell was he going to do now? Should he just stay at Prongs' house until the screaming girls forced him to relocate? He couldn't go back to his place. He _despised _it there—no one cooked for him or cleaned those cute little messes than only Padfoot could make.

Sirius silently transformed and dug his snout into the cushion, not caring one bit about how angry Lily would be when she found dog hair and saliva all over her furniture. Padfoot was calm for a few moments, almost _feeling_ the nostalgic James-like scent that would always be buried deep into the couch. As far as Padfoot knew, only he and Moony could share this type of experience—_feeling_ the overpowering sensation of a scent as though it were part of their bodies. Padfoot fell into a very light, almost half-sleep.

Suddenly, though not unexpectedly enough for Padfoot to bother changing back, the front door swung open and a jolt of icy wind entered the room. Padfoot would have rolled his eyes, had he been human. James should've known better than to spy on his fiancé and her crazy friends. It was Hogwarts all over again; he was doomed to get caught straight from the beginning. The Animagus kept his eyes shut as he listened to James bat some snow off his coat before hanging it up.

"Well what do we have here?"

Padfoot's head shot up and his doggie eyes bugged out, causing the human in the room to burst out laughing.

"Haven't had enough rows with Lily yet to understand her dislike for dog hair?" asked Remus, who's eyes were glittering with amusement at the obviously flustered Padfoot. Sirius transformed instantly and quickly met Remus at the door.

"Wotcher, Moony," he said in a deep voice, trying hard not to look embarrassed or flustered.

Remus grinned. "There's a rather raucous muggle party going on in my building, so I was going to ask Prongs if I could spent the night on the couch."

Sirius matched his friend's grin. "Looks like you're gonna have to fight _me_ for that position."

The other man rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Pads. There's nothing wrong with _your_ flat. It's in a very nice neighborhood, and you don't have drunken teenaged muggles shagging against the other side of the wall."

"Then why don't you ever ask to spend the night with me instead of James?"

Remus looked as though he was thinking this question over carefully. "Well," he began. "James and Lily are actually a very quiet couple, contrary to what you might think." Sirius nodded. He knew very well that those two only put on the bickering act when they were in public. "And, I guess I had always assumed you'd be with a woman every night. Wouldn't want to barge in on anything not meant for my innocent werewolf eyes," he batted his eyelashes.

"Innocent my arse." Sirius followed Remus, and they both sat down on the cushy green couch in the very center of the flat. It directly faced the fireplace, which held a Muggle turntable on the mantle above. Sirius' heart tingles every time he thinks about James' turntable, not because he's a fan of music (although he most certainly is), but because of the memories.

The first time he danced with another man was while a record spun on that player. It had been the night of Lily and James' engagement…and Sirius had never felt so alone and unloved. Lily's upbeat Sinatra album made him feel dreadful, as he watched the newly engaged couple sway, spin, and swing around the room. Their love had looked so real and yet so far away. Just like a photograph, James and Lily were animated and happy in their movements…yet there was no way Sirius could ever touch them. He could never break the barrier of love that blocked them from him like the gloss on the photograph…

It had happened so quickly, Sirius didn't have time to register it—suddenly he was face-to-face with Remus. They were in the middle of the room, with their arms placed delicately around each other.

"_W-What are you doing, Moony?"_ Sirius remembered asking. Millions of tiny sensations were prickling all over Sirius' skin. His hips were especially sensitive, where Remus' hands were gently resting.

"_Well, I figured you didn't want to dance with Peter…"_

Their movements fell into place, dreamily. Sirius can't remember the details of the dance half as well as he can remember the beating of his heart and the swimming of his mind. It was what he needed at that very moment, and it was such a Remus-like thing to do.

The memory of dancing with Remus always made Sirius blush. Remus noticed this now as he settled into the couch.

"Thinking about your boyfriend?" a smile curled on his lips.

Sirius shook his head to separate himself from his memories. "What was that?"

"You're face is all red. I just wondered if you were thinking about that bloke you fancy."

The other man's face lit up and he positioned himself closer to his friend. "I _was_ thinking about him!" Sirius bounced up and down on the cushion, rocking the whole couch as he did so. Remus grabbed a hold of Sirius' shirt to steady both of them.

"I'm glad you're so excited, but please don't move around so much. I'm really knackered and I need this couch to be stable," said Remus.

"Want to listen to my Ziggy Stardust album?" Sirius asked, trying to keep the mood light.

Remus wrinkled his nose. "I tell you I'm knackered and you suggest Bowie?" They both laughed at Sirius' absurd request. "Glam is dead, mate. Aren't you over all that glitter and makeup yet?"

"Of course not! Glam is just…taking a rest, that's all. It's coming back, you wait and see, Moony."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I'll wait, but I'd rather not see."

Sirius laughed. "You're just sore because I look better in tight silver pants than you do."

Remus yawned and his head sunk back into the couch cushion. He spoke in a tired, breathy voice, "I don't know, Padfoot. The only silver pants I ever tried on were yours, and we all know how much bigger your arse is than mine. It was hardly fair to have me wear such a thing."

"For the sake of our friendship, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear all that."

Sirius moved even closer to Remus on the couch, slipping his arm around his friend and lightly leaning into him. He watched and waited for any signs of discomfort from the werewolf, but none came. Instead, a small smile played across Remus' lips, and a sigh escaped him as he closed his eyes and leaned into the warmth of his friend's body. Remus' soft, brown hair tickled Sirius' cheek.

"Moony?" asked Sirius cautiously, trying to discern his friend's suddenly intimate closeness.

"Mmm?" he responded.

"…You…wanna go to the wedding…with me?"

Remus' brow furrowed, but his eyelids were too heavy to open. "Thought you were going to ask that bloke of yours to go. That was the whole point of you telling him so soon, was it not?"

"I **did**ask him! Just now!" Sirius shifted in his seat, positioning himself so that he could look at Remus' face.

"Just now? If you're asking me to go, then I assume he turned you down?" his voice was laced with concern, sounding more awake than he had a moment ago.

If Remus had opened his eyes, he would have come face-to-face with an angry, panic-stricken Sirius. "I bloody well _don't_ know if he turned me down! He isn't answering me!"

"Would you like me to talk to him?"

Sirius threw his arms up in the air, knocking Remus to the side. "By all means, Remus Lupin! _Talk to him!_ Ask him why he's so fucking oblivious to me! Ask him why he's being such a goddamn pillock right now when he bloody well knows how hard it is for me to just come right out and tell him I lo—er, that I…you know what I'm talking about!"

"_Merlin's balls_…" Remus began, rubbing his head in the spot where Sirius had knocked him. "Keep your hair on! It's obvious you're crazy about this fellow…I've never seen you act like this before. You seriously…in love with him?" Remus' flushed face had a calming effect on Sirius' nerves.

"You could say that, yeah. So, er…" Sirius sounded quite flustered all of a sudden. "Would you…like me to…you know, er…stay on this couch with you for a while? We could listen to your Elvis Costello record if you'd like."

Remus snorted and couldn't hide his smirk. "Snuggling up to Elvis Costello sounds smashing…but you're running out of time, you know. Is your bloke still awake at this hour?"

Sirius' eyes widened. "Moony?" he asked.

"What?"

"You know that face you make…you know, the 'you can't possibly be that stupid' face? Can you show it to me?"

Remus looked confused, but obliged a few seconds later as his eyes bulged and his jaw dropped.

"Thanks mate, that's all I needed."

"You mind telling me why I had to show you that expression?"

Sirius looked him square in the eye. "Because I can't imitate that face very well, and Merlin knows _somebody_ had to use it in this situation."

Remus chuckled. "Oh come now, mate. Surely you can insult me better than that."

Sirius shook his head and situated himself so that his arms were wrapped around his friend, who in turn curled up against him. Sirius waved his wand around a few times, summoning Elvis Costello's "My Aim Is True" album and levitating it onto the turntable. A few flicks of the wrist later, and music lightly filled their corner of the room.

In spite of the pop music, it didn't take Remus and Sirius very long to drift off into sleep. Sirius wished with all his might that he could stay awake long enough to drown in the feeling of the rise and fall of his best friend's chest…but sleeping close to someone has a certain tranquilizing magic.

A few songs came and went unheard by the slumbering duo. Outside, however, one inhabitant of the apartment was making her way up the staircase, followed by six or seven slightly tipsy young witches.

Once Lily got close enough, she grinned from ear to ear. "What's this? My favorite song's on! Alice, did you set something up?" her excited breath whitened the cold air around her face.

Alice had been noticeably down-in-the-dumps all evening, as she wasn't able to come up with anything extravagant for Lily's hen party. She leaned her head into the door and listened for the music. She vaguely heard the song "Alison" by Elvis Costello, and frowned. "Kind of a sad song to be your favorite, yeah?"

"It's not sad! The melody is very sweet and the lyrics are only half of the sound that makes music beautiful. Who do you think's in there playing the record, if you girls didn't set it up?" the others all shook their heads in confusion, but Lily smirked. She wasn't _that_ oblivious. James must have given up his spying to come home early and surprise her with something romantic. "I think my fiancé is in there, so why don't we call it a night." Alice and the girls nodded their heads sleepily, giggling amongst themselves as they cast warming charms upon their coats.

Lily noticed the door was unlocked, and slowly cracked it open. The lights in the flat were all on, and she had to squint to see. Quietly, she stepped across the threshold and waited for her eyes to adjust. And once they did, she almost fainted.

Upon the couch in front of the crackling fire was Sirius and Remus, curled up with one another, asleep. Lily's breath hitched, and her face that had been cold a few seconds ago, burned. Her favorite song ended and the next began, much more upbeat than the previous.

"_Now everybody's breakin' up somebody else's home,_

_before somebody else starts breaking up their own."_

Lily had never listened to the lyrics of this song before, mainly because she preferred to play "Alison" over and over. But right now, Elvis Costello's words were flowing madly through her mind as her heart hammered. Sirius and Remus were in love. And they were _in her home_.

"_I get you in my dreams._

_You should hear the things you say."_

As if on cue, Remus smiled in his sleep, sweetly and honestly. Lily covered her mouth and sunk to her knees. How could she be so fortunate as to have this scene play out in front of her?

"_It's not that it's so much fun,_

_but it's safer that way."_

Was this…could this be…"Two boys falling victim to each other's passions…" she whispered, which she immediately knew was the wrong thing to do. Pop music, of course, could not wake her friends, but somehow her whispering voice could. Sirius stirred, but Remus remained in place. The black-haired man blinked a few times and then noticed Lily on the other side of the room in front of the slightly ajar door. He grinned fully and youthfully at the girl who he'd previously been furious with. But what _really_ stopped Lily's heart was the single finger Sirius lifted to his lips, before glancing down at the man still sleeping in his arms.

"_Sneaky feeling, sneaky feelings,_

_you can't let those kind of feeling show."_

Lily could have died happy right then and there. She thought back to her earlier conversation with Sirius, about how much he loved a certain someone to the point where it was difficult to speak. It was almost heart stopping for her to suddenly discover that a person she herself cared very much about was the object of Sirius' affection—Remus would never forgive Lily if he found out that she'd instigated a highly sexual conversation about him.

She tiptoed over to the sofa and knelt down next to Sirius. "I guess you did _somewhat_ take my advice then," Lily whispered softly. Sirius' brow furrowed and he cocked his head to one side. She chuckled silently. "I mean, it looks to me like you got physical pretty quickly."

Sirius shot her a "this is purely platonic but I almost wish it weren't" look. Either that, or it meant his leg had fallen asleep and he had no way of removing Remus, whose body was cuddled up very closely to Sirius'. The black-haired man stared wistfully at his friend when he heard a tiny sigh escape those lips. Lily sighed as well.

"_I'd like to get right through the way I feel for you,_

_but I've still got a long way to go."_

"How could he not realize how much you love him?"

That was the question, wasn't it? Remus wasn't stupid. He could notice when they were planning a prank on Snape, even before James or Sirius would put it to words. Maybe his werewolf senses couldn't detect romantic feelings? That couldn't be right. He caught it _immediately_ when Lily had a crush on him in fourth year.

When she noticed the sudden sadness in Sirius' gray eyes, she set her hand gently on his head and stroked his surprisingly silky hair…a comforting gesture she'd never actually done to her boyfriend's best mate before. But now that she knew what was aching him, now that she knew _who _was aching him…she swore to herself she'd never mess with his feelings again. "It'll be okay, you know," she whispered. Sirius nodded, took a long, hard look at the sleeping Remus, and grinned. Lily sent him a confused expression.

"Watch this," he mouthed. And then, without warning, he brushed his lips against a scar on Remus' cheek. Not even half a second later, the corner of the sleeping man's mouth curled slightly. Lily's face was brilliantly red.

"_Why don't we call it a day, and we can both confess._

_You can force me to use a little tenderness."_

Suddenly, she felt like an intruder in her own apartment. "I think I'm going to bed. Do you know where James is?" A roll of Sirius' eyes told Lily everything she needed to know. She tiptoed back to the front door, shut and locked it with her wand, and then hung up her coat. Before stepping into the bedroom she shared with her fiancé, she snuck a quick glance at the tender scene in front of the fire.

Sirius' muscular arm was protectively draped over Remus' body, while the other flicked a wand at the record player, effectively silencing it. The crackling of the fire was all the two of them needed for tonight. The sound of it was music to Sirius' ears, and he imagined dancing with his arms around Remus like this. No talking would be necessary, because Remus would understand _everything _through the body language.

Tonight's spoken thoughts would have to wait until morning…or until James stumbled angrily through the doorway.

* * *

Please review my story! As I mentioned, I am NOT a veteran songfic author. Next chapter's the last one, btw...so stay tuned!


	5. Sneaky Feelings

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Elvis Costello, though I envy the glasses they wear.

**Title:** Sneaky Feelings

**Summary:** Alice Longbottom wants to find the most suitable entertainment for the soon-to-be-married Lily Evans. Sirius Black, however, is not ready to cooperate. Slash RL/SB. Random Elvis Costello lyrics make their way into things.

A/N: Again, I apologize for forgetting to update again. I blame "As the World Turns" and "Death Note". I have no idea why I didn't just split apart this chapter, as it clearly could have been two or three instead of one. But whatever. It's the end. I'm so glad this fic is over because I really need to get back to "Gardener". Also…I'm writing a new and much hotter fic than usual that you should all be looking forward to.

**Chapter Five:** Sneaky Feelings

"How was the stag night?" Lily asked the man who would be her husband in a matter of hours. It was only midnight, but Lily knew her excitement about the wedding was going to keep her from any desire to fall asleep.

James looked abysmal…it seemed like he'd run his hand through his hair much more than usual this evening. "It was." Lily shook her head and handed him a cup of tea, which he gladly took. "What the bloody hell am I supposed to do about Sirius tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"After you saw him last night on the couch with Remus, I thought everything was finally all worked out. But this morning made it worse! Now Sirius won't even _talk_!" James remembered all too clearly the previous morning. Remus had woken up before Sirius, had some sort of half-asleep panic attack when he noticed that he and his friend had spent the night on the couch together, and proceeded to shoot a hex that sent Sirius flying headfirst into the coffee table. The two hadn't spoken to each other since, much to Sirius' dismay.

Lily gave her boyfriend a stern look. "I understand what Sirius is going through right now, but that doesn't mean you have to accommodate for him on _your_ wedding day."

James threw up his arms. "He's Sirius bloody Black! Even if he weren't my best man, he's still supposed to be the life of the party! Otherwise, nobody would bother inviting him to things!"

"You still invite Peter to things," Lily pointed out, trying not to sound too harsh.

But James wasn't really listening to her. His head was still ringing from the music at the seedy bar he'd just left. Peter had taken them pub-crawling, in Sirius' absence. Of course, Sirius hadn't really been _absent_. He just refused to be _Sirius_ enough to show everyone a good time. The man hardly said a word all night for two reasons, James suspected. One, because Remus had been too close in proximity to him; and two, because Remus had not been close enough.

The werewolf, on the other hand, had seemed pleasantly…pleasant, in spite of the morning's charade. That is, until the stripper (who had been eying up Sirius all evening and had finally decided to descend upon him) knocked Remus onto the floor…which was why the night had ended so abruptly and Remus was currently in the Potter's bathroom trying to heal a large, purple bruise on his forehead.

"This is all _his_ fault," said James to himself.

"Whose fault?" asked Lily. As if on cue, the bathroom door creaked open and Remus stepped out into the main living area, his wound almost completely invisible.

"BLOODY HELL LUPIN, GET WITH THE PROGRAM!"

After living with James for seven years, Remus didn't even bother to look startled at his random outbursts anymore. Instead, he directed his attention at the confused Lily. "Maybe we should give Prongs some alone time with his pre-wedding jitters, yeah?" suggested Remus, who was looking far too amused for someone who's just been injured and then hollered at.

"I agree!" said Lily, grinning. "I have chocolate ice cream in the freezer!" Lily was always delighted to show off the muggle kitchen appliances James let her bring into the apartment.

"That sounds wonderful." Remus' smile showed that he was reveling in the time he could spend with his friends, and James knew that he shouldn't _dare_ take that away just because he was mildly upset with the werewolf.

After the three of them had finished off a large portion of the gallon of ice cream, Lily decided she was going to at least _try_ and get some sleep. James had quickly gotten over his anger with Remus. He did, however, have a small bout of pre-wedding jitters, if that's what you wanted to call them. The worst part about having them was not the scared feeling fluttering around in the pit of his stomach. No, the worst part about the pre-wedding jitters was that he _knew_ they'd have disappeared by now if only Sirius were with him, making jokes and acting all poncy and what not. Sirius was always going on about feeling "left behind" or some such nonsense. Well, right now, James was the one who was feeling slightly left behind. His best friend couldn't even bother to comfort him on his last night as a bachelor.

James removed his glasses and set them on the coffee table. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and blurrily saw Remus' brown eyes fixed on him. "I'm sorry, James. I know this is difficult for you too." _What?_ thought James. He voiced his confusion, and Remus smiled at him warmly. "Sirius' problems. I assume that's what's got you all worked up. I think he'd be happy to know that you care about him this much."

Hearing Remus saying something like that aloud suddenly made it sound pretty embarrassing. "Er, well, no…I mean, I've just got pre-wedding jitters, you know?" he stuttered.

Remus chuckled. "Now you're even _talking_ like him!"

James gave his friend a reproachful look. "You're taking all of this very lightly, you know. It's infuriating."

"A blade of grass is infuriating when you're involved," Remus retorted. "And just what exactly am I taking lightly?"

James shook his head. "You're HOPELESS, Moony. Like I already said, this is all your fault," he said, thrusting his head into the side of the couch. Facing the other direction, he didn't notice Remus roll his eyes and turn toward the door.

"You're wrong. It's _his_ fault." Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "But I guess I'll be the one to fix everything."

James' head shot up. "What?" But Remus had already grabbed his coat and slipped out the front door. James' eyebrows furrowed and he pinched the bridge of is nose. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, poor Sirius was wallowing in self-pity on the staircase leading up to his flat. The brutally cold wind whipping his exposed face and hands was nowhere near as painful as the feeling that one best friends was leaving him behind, while the other was rejecting his feelings. It didn't bother him that Remus had gone berserk and knocked him off the couch. No, that was normal Remus behavior; Sirius knew his friend did not take kindly to waking up in a strange position.

What really bothered him was the silent treatment Remus was giving him. When Remus gives someone the silent treatment, he doesn't really ignore them…he just doesn't talk unless spoken to. One of Sirius' favorite things about his friendship with Remus was the conversations they shared. Ending this type of interaction was quite detrimental to Sirius' mental wellbeing.

Sirius finally stood up and trudged up the rest of the staircase until he came to front door of his flat. But instead of entering the lonely apartment, he sunk back down to the ground in front of the door and pulled out his wand. With a few waves and mumbled words, a heating spell swirled around Sirius and embraced his previously frostbitten body. He lit up a cigarette and glanced up at the starless sky. If the sun were out, the sky would have been completely clouded with the pinkish-white tinge that often leads to snow. Even over the smoky aroma that filled his lungs, Sirius could _smell_ the snow that was likely to fall by the morning.

Morning…his best mate's wedding. There was no point in him finding a date, as Remus was the only person he had intended to share the joyousness of the day with. Remus was going to _love_ the wedding…as he didn't have to bear the same heartache that Sirius felt. Sirius' mind swirled just _thinking_ about seeing Remus in a dress robes. When was the last time he'd been to a formal event with the werewolf? Remus had been "ill" for Frank and Alice's wedding, and he'd spent every Hogwarts Yule Ball helping the Marauders turn Christmas baubles into dungbombs.

He took the last cigarette out of the carton, lit it, and watched it slowly burn between his fingertips. "Why can't I tell Remus I love him?" he asked, as if the cigarette smoke, mixed with his breath in the air, had all the answers. Sirius chucked the empty carton over the balcony and heard it clatter softly on the sidewalk below. His heart seemed to drop with it.

MWPP

"You know when a woman is pregnant…" James trailed off; his eyes were glossed over as he stared out the window of the chapel. He watched the overlarge snowflakes accumulate on the macadam ground of the parking lot.

"Bloody fuck! Is Lily pregnant?" asked Peter, astounded. He honestly had no idea where James was going with this. It was only fifteen minutes until the procession was to begin and James had just started spewing _nonsense_. Peter tried to wrap his mind around what the heck a conversation that began with "you know when a woman is pregnant" could possibly mean.

James' face turned green. "NO! I-I mean she hasn't told me anything…I mean, that's not what I meant…" If he'd been Sirius (or anyone else but himself, for that matter), Peter would have grabbed James by the shoulders and shaken him. Instead, he decided to gingerly sit down next to his friend on the bench.

"Prongs? What are you on about?"

A large chunk of snow fell off the seat of Sirius' motorbike, which was parked next to the only other muggle vehicle in the lot—a lone estate car belonging to Lily's parents and her sister. He continued looking out the window as he spoke to Peter. "When a woman is pregnant, I heard that sometimes the father gets some sort of condition called 'couvade'."

"Sympathy pain?" The only reason Peter knew about this was because Sirius always pretended to have aches and pains during and after Remus' transformations. Wait. _Oh_, thought Peter. _That's_ where James was going with this. The shorter man shifted his gaze to their long-haired friend, who was seated on the other side of the room. Although"seated" may have been an overstatement. Sirius was curled up into a ball in the corner, and Peter had no idea someone's face could actually become that pale.

The door to the chapel opened to reveal a few last-minute guests. James shot up out of his seat. "Fuck!" He immediately crouched back down and put his head between his knees before slowly standing back up.

"Prongs…" Peter tried to calm him, but it was no use. He silently watched James march angrily over to the gloomy ball of man and dress robes that was Sirius Black.

"You **bastard!**" Sirius' head lifted to match James' angry-blue eyes with a pair of terribly bloodshot ones. "You bloody git…you great fucking moron!" Sirius didn't answer to this. Instead, his head sunk back into his hands. James continued, "You're supposed to be the best man, you tosser! But instead I'm the one who's supposed to be comforting _you_? Is that it? I'm about to get _married_ and you're a bigger mess that I am!"

"Er, I don't think the groom _needs_ to be a mess…"

"Piss off, Pete…no wait!" James hollered at the shorter man, causing him to jump. The door to the chapel creaked open. "Actually why don't _you_ be my best man, Wormtail! Let's get this ceremony started and leave Black to his little angst fest!"

As he heard Sirius sigh deeply, part of James wanted to throw away all of his anger and help his friend stand up and get situated. He _did_ love the poor bugger after all. But the ceremony was starting in _ten minutes_ and he certainly didn't want to be standing out here in the foyer holding everybody up. Everything needed to be perfect for Lily's wedding, as they were already forced to marry in the dead of winter instead of Lily's original idea of a June wedding. War was just…difficult, to say the least.

"Oh no," said a soft voice. All three men turned their heads to the doorway, where a windswept Remus Lupin stood. He didn't even bother brushing the snow off his coat before rushing to Sirius' side. "James, what's wrong with him? Is he sick?"

"Prongs thinks Padfoot has 'couvade'." Remus gave Peter a _"what the fuck?_" look before kneeling down and grabbing Sirius' shoulders.

Instead of speaking directly to Sirius, Remus continued asking James questions. "What's _actually_ wrong with him? Have you checked his vitals?"

"He isn't sick, Remus, so don't bother fussing. He's just upset because that _bloke_ of his didn't agree to be his date." James was now glaring daggers at Remus. "It was cute for a while, when I thought he was just stressed out about my wedding…but now he's just freaking everybody out."

Remus' brow furrowed. "Oh for _Merlin's_ sake, Padfoot. You're such a drama queen…" he said exasperatedly. He sniffled a few times to clear his weather-induced runny nose.

James shook his head. This was getting nowhere. "Okay Moony, Wormtail's going to act as my best man, so we've got to enter together. Pete's original partner was Lily's sister…so could you possibly be Petunia's partner? Her husband's bedridden with some sort of muggle illness, but we all know it's just a lie to get out of being around witches and wizards."

"Oh none of that will be necessary," Remus said matter-of-factly before sniffling again. "Sirius and I will walk down the aisle together."

"As a couple? But he can hardly stand up." As James said this, Peter began nodding his head vigorously. He was looking for any excuse to get out of walking down the aisle with Petunia Dursley. As Remus directed all his attention on Sirius, James suddenly remembered what Remus had told him the night before_: "I guess I'll be the one to fix everything…"_

"Oh he'll stand up. I've no doubt in my mind." Remus moved closer to Sirius and grabbed the side of the man's face.

"No, Moony. I already tried smacking him—"

With one hand cupping the black-haired man's cheek, Remus captured his friend's lips with a sudden kiss. It lasted no more than ten seconds…but that was all the time he needed to provoke a little passion into Sirius' pale face. Knowing Sirius, James should have expected what happened next: arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Remus, pulling him completely on top of Sirius. "Mmph!" came a muffled cry as they fell over.

"Oi!" hollered James. But really, he wished he had a camera.

Remus swiftly pulled himself away from Sirius, stood up, and immediately began casting spells to get the wrinkles out of his dress robes. Sirius' face was bright red. "Ah, er, Moony?" one side of his mouth curled up and his eyes looked uncharacteristically large.

Remus looked down at Sirius and smiled. "Better hurry up and de-wrinkle your dress robes, mate," he said, extending a hand to help his friend stand up. His eyes did not directly meet Sirius', but the surprisingly warm grip of his hand made Sirius feel as though something strange was taking place between the two of them…as if some sort of magic was encasing them in the moment. But they would have to come back to this later. The wedding of their best friend was not going to wait.

MWPP

Although Sirius was technically supposed to enter with the groom and wait at the altar for everyone else to process in, James was one hundred percent in favor of letting Remus walk him down the aisle. If anything, the shock of Sirius and Remus walking arm in arm might add some Marauderish excitement to the wedding.

"Pads?" Remus asked him, just seconds before they were supposed to enter through the doorway. "Are you ready?"

Sirius looked over at Remus and smiled lightly. "Why are you suddenly doing this? You wouldn't even talk to me yesterday."

"I was waiting."

"What? Waiting for what?" Sirius sounded frantically confused. But suddenly, Remus put a finger to his lips and locked arms with Sirius. Before either of them knew it, they had stepped out into the aisle. All eyes were suddenly upon the two male friends, but the loud processional music seemed to drown out the gasps of some of the women in the room. Sirius should have felt somewhat embarrassed, having just outed himself in front of nearly half of their Hogwarts graduating class. But just as his heart felt like it was going to leap out through his throat, Sirius caught an encouraging smile from a rather elderly guest wearing half-moon spectacles. He immediately relaxed.

Sirius was in a trance. He didn't know if he was walking too slow or too fast down the aisle, but it honestly didn't matter. He imagined himself walking arm in arm with Remus for the rest of the wedding. He imagined walking straight out those chapel doors and hopping onto Sirius' motorbike, Remus' body pressed tightly up against his back as they chased snowflakes down the street.

He was suddenly shaken out of this trance s when reached the altar. Remus gave his hand a quick squeeze before joining Peter and the other groomsmen. With his hand still tingling from Remus' encouraging gesture, Sirius decided it was about time he went into Best Man Mode. He positioned himself behind James on the altar.

"You didn't tell me Dumbles was going to be here! How dare he bring my precious Minerva as his date!" Sirius whispered to the groom, who was looking slightly pale. Sirius' heart leapt when he saw that he'd made James laugh, albeit a little nervously.

James whispered back, "Don't you remember helping me with his invitation? We had to put all those anti-tracking spells on the owl…" Then he remembered: Remus had fallen asleep on Sirius' lap while they were addressing the wedding envelopes. James shook his head. "You're a surprisingly predictable person sometimes, you know that?"

"Only to you."

"No, I think that bloke of yours can predict you _far_ better than I can."

Sirius chuckled. "That can't be right. My bloke was _bollocks _at Divinations."

MWPP

Remus, Sirius, and Peter had seen James and Lily kiss countless times. They'd all witnessed the couple's first kiss back in seventh year, which had taken place right in front of the display window of Honeydukes. Peter had squeaked with delight at James' capture of the elusive Lily Evans, but Remus and Sirius had decided to show their support of the couple by pretending to make out on the other side of the display window. When James had seen this, his signature holler of "Oi!" could be heard from kilometers away. Teasing James about kissing had always been fun, because the man seemed to look awkward every single time he did it. Without fail…whether it be the way he kissed her or the place they happened to be kissing.

But when James kissed Lily for the first time as his wife, nothing could have been less awkward. Remus nudged Peter in the side, and Peter looked over and flashed him a smile. It was obvious that the werewolf was happy to see his friends tie the knot. The best man stood close to the couple, grinning at them like a madman before catching Remus' eye. Sirius winked, causing Peter to be the one to nudge Remus in the side. "What type of spell did you put on Padfoot back there?"

Remus shushed Peter, but he couldn't hide his now scarlet face. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him before following the newly married couple back down the aisle. Neither Sirius nor Remus looked at each other until the reception, which was to take place at the muggle hotel across the street. Dumbledore, who in spite of his appearance seemed to be very good at persuading muggles, had taken control of the food, beverages, and cake by using the Hogwarts house elves. It was the least he could do for the groom, who had given up so much of his time for Dumbledore's cause.

Remus returned from the washroom to find Sirius standing on his chair, animatedly gesturing through some sort of speech. "…and then Evans punched the poor chap in the ribs, right before that abysmal Gryffindor-Slytherin match!"

"We didn't lose that game because of James, you twat. You had decided to play hung over!" announced Remus as he took his seat next to the best man. He grabbed Sirius' arm on the way down, forcing him to fall unceremoniously down into his chair. The wedding party and guests exploded with laughter, the loudest of which was James and Lily. Remus glanced down the table and saw that even McGonagall was smiling.

As Alice stood up to make a toast, Remus leaned over and whispered into Sirius' ear. "It seems your humor is a success."

Sirius grinned. "It's all thanks to you, mate."

"Oh nonsense. All I did was use perform a little spell."

"…"

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I was _talking_ about the kiss…but…were _you_ responsible for those daydreams I had when I was walking down the aisle? Have I been under your weird love spell this whole time?"

Remus looked slightly peeved. "I used a calming charm you buffoon! You know how difficult a love spell is…it's Dark magic! And with Professor Dumbledore in the next room!"

Sirius threw his head back and barked with laughter. "I was _kidding_ Moony!" he grabbed his glass of champagne and held it up as Alice proposed a toast. "To James and Lily!" he cried. "And of course, to us," he said to Remus in a much quieter voice.

"Sirius…" Remus did not look amused. Actually, he looked quite reproachful.

"Moony?" but Remus didn't say anything. Instead, he concentrated on the food on his plate and began picking at it excruciatingly slowly for someone who usually scarfed down tremendous quantities of food in short periods of time.

Before long, one of Lily's romantic tunes began playing and the newlyweds took to the dance floor. Remus must have forgotten about his sudden anger toward Sirius, because he whispered in the man's ear, "They look really happy, don't they?"

Sirius nodded. They most certainly did. James' face was graced with a smile that Sirius had never witnessed before…it was something that made their friend look almost _beautiful_, which certainly wasn't something that normally described James Potter. Angry, mischievous, cynical, super angry, pompous, nerdy…those were all very accurate descriptions of James. But never _beautiful._ And, of course, Lily absolutely sparkled as James led her around the dance floor. If the couple hadn't looked so perfect—so untouchable—at that moment, Sirius would have noticed how complete rubbish James was at dancing.

The first dance ended and some upbeat muggle tunes started to play, inviting the guests to join the bride and groom. Peter, who considered dancing to be one of the more atrocious types of exercise, decided to take control of the wizarding camera for the afternoon. Sirius lazily watched his friend scurry around as best as he could with the giant camera, blinding every dancer he tried to record. Suddenly, Sirius felt a hand touch his shoulder.

He spun around in his seat, hoping to Merlin that Remus was asking him to dance. His heart sank when he saw that Remus was still seated. "You're not going to dance, Pads? I'll bet half the bridesmaids wouldn't mind spinning around the dance floor with you. That is…unless you only wanted to dance with that bloke of yours."

Sirius' face was red, out of embarrassment, confusion, and anger all at once. "Remus…" he said through gritted teeth, trying his hardest to let the anger win out over the embarrassment and keep himself from stuttering. "I want to dance with **you**."

Remus' calm face broke out into a genuine smile. He stood up and offered his hand to his friend. "I accept!"

At this point, the confusion presided over any other emotion in Sirius' body. It was as if his every word caused a completely different reaction from Remus…and none of them made sense. First, Remus was angry that Sirius was going to have sex with his "boyfriend". Then Remus spent _hours_ on the couch completely misinterpreting everything Sirius tried to confess to him, followed by an entire day's worth of the cold shoulder. And now Remus was somehow leading him on and pushing him away at the same time. It was as if the werewolf was testing him somehow…as if it was _Sirius_ who was misinterpreting everything. But that couldn't be right! Remus had kissed him, hadn't he? Hadn't he walked Sirius down the aisle and blushed at the wink?

A few moments later, Remus had led Sirius to a spot on the outskirts of the dance floor and placed his hands loosely on Sirius' shoulders. Some of the nearby bridesmaids scoffed, but knew better than to verbally criticize Sirius Black. Sirius's heart won out over his mind when his hands placed themselves shakily on Remus' thin waist. The two stood as far apart as their arms could manage. Sirius frowned when he remembered how close their bodies had been that night he'd first danced with Remus.

"Hm…" said Remus, looking into Sirius' eyes.

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows and scowled. "What?"

Suddenly, Remus giggled. Sirius tried his best to keep up the scowl after hearing such an adorable noise come from his friend's mouth. "I wish Prongs had never taught you to scowl. When did you stop being the happy Marauder?"

"Since you decided to start acting like an oblivious fuck!"

Sirius expected Remus to immediately take offense and skive off…but somehow Sirius' comment had put some of the gold back in Remus' brown eyes. "I guess James was right then. I _am_ taking this too far." He grinned as he spoke.

"Taking what too far?"

"Being an oblivious fuck, obviously."

"…"

Remus took a few steps closer and leaned into his friend. Sirius blushed and drew back. "Padfoot? I thought you said you wanted to dance with me? How can we do that without actually touching?"

"We're touching!" Sirius retorted. He honestly had no idea why he was doing this. For weeks, Sirius had dreamt about feeling Remus' warm body against his as they swayed to music at the wedding. But now it just seemed like Remus was playing with him…_torturing_ him.

"You know what I mean. Now come on, let's dance."

This was the last straw. "No, Remus. I _don't_ know what you mean. What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, acting like you have no idea how I feel! Like you don't even care! You've been…you've been…"

Remus' intense stare bore straight into Sirius' heart. "I'm waiting," he whispered.

"What?!" Sirius cried. "Do you know how fucked up I've been over you these past few weeks? What could you possibly have been waiting for that could top how painful it's been waiting for _you?_" Sirius didn't sound spiteful when he said these words, however Remus clearly saw a pained look in his silvery eyes. The werewolf's expression softened.

"I was waiting for you to say it," Remus answered, slipping his arms around Sirius' neck.

In a sudden twist of fate, Sirius found himself tightening his grip on Remus' waist and pulling the man closer to him. "…Say it?"

"That's right." Remus' head rested in the crook of Sirius' neck, and the taller man's face burned as he noticed half the dance floor suddenly watching them. Lily's green eyes sparkled as she whispered something into James' ear, all the while looking directly at Sirius and Remus. After a quick glace at his friends, James pulled his wand out of his back pocket and muttered a spell.

The music abruptly changed, and Sirius froze.

"_Now everybody's breakin' up somebody else's home…"_

He could feel Remus grin against his neck. "They're playing our song."

"H-how is this our song?"

The other man chuckled and pulled his head back to gaze into his friend's silver eyes. "All day. I waited all of yesterday for you to talk to me. I waited for you to say it," he told Sirius. "Honestly…how it this _not_ our song?"

Sirius' heart leapt out of his throat. "You were awake?"

"Say it." Remus' voice sounded more insistent this time, and it made Sirius' whole body tingle.

"That night…you heard Evans say—"

"What, Sirius. What did I hear Lily say?" Remus' voice was almost raspy now. He stood on his toes until his nose brushed Sirius'. They heard the bride make an exasperated sound on the other side of the floor.

"_White lies, alibis, anything but say that it's true."_

"That…that I…" Maybe Sirius should have memorized the spell for summoning water, because there was no way is face could _not_ be on fire right now. "Oh, _Merlin._"

"I'd appreciate you calling me Remus, but whatever works for you…"

"No! I mean..." he grabbed Remus' shoulders and held the man out in front of him. "This entire time…I've never said it?"

"Not to my face."

"And that's why you've been acting like such a prick?"

"Er, yes?"

Sirius let out a shaky breath and grinned warily at the person he wanted more than anything.

"_Now we could sit like lovers, staring in each other's eyes,_

_but the magic of the moment might become too much for you."_

"I love you." He then kissed the corner of Remus' mouth.

It was Remus' turn to blush brilliantly. Sirius grabbed his hand and led him past the dancing couples, past the elaborately decorated tables, past the guests who were trying unsuccessfully to hide their interest in this sudden brewing romance. Once safely in the hallway, Sirius let go of the werewolf's hand and gave him a long, hard look. For someone who'd been so manipulative up until now, Remus sure looked vulnerable as he stood there blushing like a girl.

Sirius laced his fingers with Remus' and bent down to touch noses again. The shorter man's eyes drooped and his lips parted slightly.

"_Sneaky feeling, sneaky feelings,_

_you can't let those kind of feeling show."_

They both laughed, effectively breaking the mood. The music had magically followed them into the lobby. "Evans thinks she's being cute."

"You can't call her Evans anymore, you know."

"Ah that's right. They're married…" Sirius sighed.

"You still sad about that?" Remus' eyes were now completely golden, and Sirius could see the hallway's chandeliers reflected in them. Suddenly he was hit with a jolt of desire.

"No."

Sirius wasn't quite sure whose lips caught the other's first, but suddenly they were kissing. His arms wrapped completely around Remus' waist, and he could feel Remus playing with the hair behind his neck. The first kisses were short cracks of lips, pulling back and changing positions and trying to get the feeling just right. They danced into a deeper kiss, swaying back and forth in the middle of hallway. Their knees bumped together and it finally turned into a searing snog.

"_I'd like to get right through the way I feel for you,_

_But I've still got a long way to go."_

A flash of light and a puff of smoke told them that Peter had no sense of privacy. Remus giggled into Sirius' mouth and their lips parted with a light smacking sound. Sirius shot Peter an angry look, but Remus spoke first. "Wormtail, did you get that on film?" the sexy, out-of-breath voice that came out of Remus' mouth had Sirius thankful he'd worn dress robes instead of a tux. "I don't think James and Lily want a picture of us snogging in their wedding album."

"But Lily told me to take it!" Peter said defensively. "Also, she wants you guys to come back inside."

Sirius sighed. "Can you tell _Mrs. Potter_ that if she knew what she was breaking up, somehow I don't think she would've sent you out to get us?" Then Sirius proceeded to leave a burning trail of kisses along his new boyfriend's neck. Remus' breath hitched.

"Er…" Peter interrupted. "Lily wants you inside for some posed wedding photos."

Remus immediately covered Sirius' mouth, and nodded to Peter. "Sounds good, Pete. We're right behind you." Peter gave them a small smile before rushing away with the camera.

Remus grinned at Sirius and threw his arms around his friend's neck. "See, it wasn't so hard to tell me you loved me."

"You could have just asked right from the beginning, you know."

"Well I wanted you to mean it. In this day and age especially, I wanted to know that you weren't just…"

Sirius cut him off with a quick kiss. "I'm not. There's no way the two of us could ever be one of _those_ couples." They both knew that "those couples" were only getting together because of the war. Probably half of the people dancing at the wedding reception were being rushed or forced into a relationship, a statistic that visibly saddened Remus. Sirius used his thumb to brush his favorite scar on Remus' cheek. "Moony…can I tell you a little secret?"

"What's that?"

"I'm not gay."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean? I thought—"

"No, Moony. I'm not gay because I don't like men…I only love _you_. Shouldn't that be a good enough reason for you to believe me?"

Remus smiled and nodded. "You sound like something right out of Lily's romance novels."

"Eww, Moony! I'm gonna tell her you read her porno books!" He pretended to make a run for it.

The other man laughed. "Well then _I'm_ gonna tell her that Padfoot rubs his ass across the carpet when she isn't home!"

"WHAT!? I don't do that, you berk! And why aren't you denying that you read her books!?" Remus threw his head back in laughter, which sent instant warmth to Sirius' heart.

The two held hands as they re-entered the reception area. Sirius expected all eyes to be on Remus and himself once they stepped through the doorway, but he was mistaken. Instead, every couple from around the room had their arms around each other and were dancing to the slow, romantic music. The lights had dimmed, but from what Sirius could tell, most of the room seemed to be under some kind of magic spell. It wasn't the kind of magic that came from a wand or an incantation. No, it was the kind that _snuck_ up on you when you least expected it. The kind that floated around in the air just _waiting_ to catch you off guard. The kind he felt every time he saw Remus.

"Posed wedding photos, my arse…" scoffed Sirius. "I'm gonna go give the happy couple a piece of my mind." He and Remus walked over to where James and Lily embraced on the dance floor. Sirius tapped the bride on the shoulder. "Oi, Mrs. Potter." Lily gave Sirius a "what the hell?" look, and then blushed when she noticed him holding Remus' hand. Sirius leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I don't mean to ruin your lovely wedding day, but I'd just like to inform you that Remus steals your adult novels every night and hides them in his mikeywave-thingy."

Lily shrieked with laughter, causing James to leap from her arms in surprise. Remus chuckled. "Now that you've effectively broken up the happy couple, shall we take their place, Mr. Padfoot?" he winked.

Sirius grinned and slipped his arms around Remus. "Certainly, Mr. Moony."

MWPP

The bride and groom stood arm-in-arm in front of the camera, smiling brightly. Lily looked _gorgeous_ in her long, white dress that sparkled in the light of the crystal chandeliers. Peter happily recorded wizarding photos of them, although he was getting a little lightheaded from all the flashes and smoke.

Peter watched through the lens as the best man slid into the frame, grinning broadly and youthfully. He clapped James on the shoulder. "Congratulations, mate."

"Aw, guys, I thought you agreed not to talk for this photo!" Peter whined. Lily had told him she wanted at least one wedding picture that didn't require lip-reading to understand.

Lily shook her head. "It's okay, Peter. We tried." She glanced over at the best man, and then noticed something was quite missing. Now that Sirius and Remus were together, seeing one without the other just didn't look right. "Quick, get Remus in the picture before it ends!"

Remus shook his head. "Aw, Lily you know I can't stand photo—!" Sirius swept the werewolf off his feet and carried him bridal style into the frame. James stepped quickly away as his crazy friend almost swerved into him.

Lily rushed to Peter's side. "Did you get that?" she asked excitedly. He shook his head.

"No, I don't think Moony made it into that one." He flipped a few switches and began filming once more. "Okay, try again…"

But Remus and Sirius were the only ones in the shot now. And from the looks of it, Sirius had slipped his tongue into Remus' mouth. Peter made a gagging noise and James shook with silent laughter. The two looked far from picture perfect as Remus almost stumbled over backwards. But Lily and James hesitated to walk back into the frame. The moment had clearly been won over for Remus and Sirius alone. "Let's let these nancies have the picture all to themselves," James said as he watched his two best friends snog. Sirius grinned and flipped James the bird before deepening the kiss.

As always, I would love to hear from people who've read my fic! Reviews, good or bad, are really important to me. Okay, so now I'm going to go rejoice in the fact that I can finally get back to my regularly scheduled fic writing.


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